Ovipositor

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characteristics of

Hymenoptera

...type or of the biting-sucking type. In the higher evolutionary forms—bees, for example—mouthparts are modified into a sucking apparatus, although many also retain biting mandibles. The
ovipositor, or egg-laying organ in the female, is often very long and may be modified for piercing, sawing, or stinging. Metamorphosis is complete; i.e., the insect develops through four distinct...

...a club, whereas others may have branched segments. The leg is nearly always characterized by five segments, of which the fifth is the tarsus, or “foot.” The abdomen of the female has an
ovipositor at the tip. In the sawflies, the
ovipositor is modified into a sawlike tool used for making slits in the leaves or stems of plants in which the eggs are deposited, but in all other...

sucking insects

...in the female they are modified for oviposition. Although external genital structures, these are usually enclosed in a genital chamber. The female genitalia in the Auchenorrhyncha consists of an
ovipositor, formed by the appendages (gonopods) of segments 8 and 9. The
ovipositor, a pair of basal plates and three pairs of elongate bladelike structures, generally is used to pierce or drill...

Based on the primitive nature of the
ovipositor, the primitive sucking pump, and simple alimentary canal, the fulgorids are considered to be different from other Auchenorrhyncha and are probably the oldest group. The
ovipositor of
Scolops pungens is more primitive than that found in many of the Orthoptera. Thus the Fulgoridae are a combination of specialized sucking mouthparts and a...

function in

animal reproduction

...reproductive organs of vertebrates consist of gonads and associated ducts and glands. In addition, some vertebrates, including some of the more primitive fishes, have organs for sperm transfer or
ovipository (egg-laying) organs. Gonads produce the gametes and hormones essential for reproduction. Associated ducts and glands store and transport the gametes and secrete necessary substances. In...

insect reproduction

The terminal segments of the abdomen of females sometimes are modified to form an
ovipositor used for depositing eggs. In butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) a second copulatory canal independent of the vagina has been evolved, so that the sperm enter by one route, and the eggs are deposited by another.

Mating takes place soon after the final molt. In most species death ensues shortly after mating and oviposition (egg deposition). Winged existence may last only a few hours, although
Hexagenia males may live long enough to engage in mating flights on two successive days, and female imagos that retain their eggs may live long enough to mate on either of two successive days. Groups of male...

...in which eggs develop, moving posteriorly into a single oviduct as they “ripen.” The oviduct leads to a vagina and then to the exterior where there is either a simple or specialized
ovipositor consisting of paired appendages called
ovipositor valves. Attached to the oviduct or vagina is a sac (called the spermatheca) for storage of male sperm; as eggs move down the oviduct, they...

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